


Misty Blue Void

by freckledFirebrand



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Universe, Gen, I don't know if any of the characters are straight actually, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Post fall of Beacon, Queer Themes, Queerplatonic Relationships, Trans Male Character, author thought it a smart idea to make 12 characters for a story, canon character mention, twelve characters at the very least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:13:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28237506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledFirebrand/pseuds/freckledFirebrand
Summary: After the Fall of Beacon, three teams decide to take a slow trek to Mistral instead of risk being broken up by the other Huntsmen academies -- or by their pasts: Team MIST, Team VOID, and Team ALCE. Bound together by the weak ties they had formed during their time at Beacon, they've been suffering for a goal that they're not even sure still exists.
Kudos: 1





	1. Lazy, Misty Evening

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This, really, is my first time making proper fanfiction and using this site. Please bear with me as I get my footing, and I really do hope you'll enjoy what I've written so far! Thank you so much!

“Do you really think she’s still ahead of us with her team?” came a voice in Marshal’s ear, uncomfortably close, while he was sitting on the damp ground, back slouched against a tree. His brown eyes tiredly flickered back open as he blinked at the girl squatting right beside him and staring at him with wide sea green eyes; lazily, he rose a hand and tried to swat the face away as gently as he could lazily swat someone away.

“I’m sure that Vi’s still ahead of us. With her team, though… that’s another question, isn’t it,” he softly mumbled back as he brought his hand back through the mop of hair atop his head, staring the girl down. “Do you _ever_ calm down, Indica?”

“Oh, that sure is rich coming from you,” she chirped back as she popped back upright from her crouch, rolling her eyes as she did so. Whatever mild annoyance Indica might’ve had, however, wasn’t enough for her to not offer Marshal a hand to pull himself upright with.

Taking her hand with a small groan, Marshal hoisted himself back upright, only muttering a soft “thanks” as he dusted off his back, adjusted his duster, and started to look around. After a brief pause to stretch and yawn, bear ears atop his head still twitching, he turned back to his teammate and asked, “Wait. Where’s Sierra and Tully?”

“I had them go off ahead. I figured you wouldn’t want to wake up to Tully smoking in your face, or Sierra blanking out on us all, _pardner_ ,” Indica explained, an awfully smug look on her face as she both teased Marshal rather unjustly and soothed out a ruffle in her sundress. The tease earned her nothing more than a light slug on her shoulder (an action that prompted an indignant look from her) from Marshal as he just shook his head and sighed.

“Alright. I’d be… lying if I didn’t say I didn’t appreciate it,” Marshal awkwardly acknowledged, beginning to set a pace for the two of them to follow.

And falling in right behind him, Indica just mirror the shake of his head and just softly muttered, “You need as much sleep as you can get, Marshy. You’ve not gotten a good day of sleep for most of the year. Not since, well. Beacon.”

* * *

“We’re lost,” Tully growled in a low enough tone to startle Sierra right out of the trance that she was walking in.

“Are not!” Sierra squeaked back. After a brief pause, she simply added, “I’ve just been trusting you to know which way we’re going.”

“Yet you’re leading the way?” came a snark back.

“You’re normally demanding enough that –”

“Sierra,” Tully interjected.

“Sorry…”

With a small groan, Tully stopped fishing around in the black purse that hung lazily on her left side with her only hand and instead started to rub her temples with her middle finger and her thumb. “Look,” Tully began, the annoyance fading from her voice to just simply be replaced disappointment, “let’s just take a break. I’m almost half-sure that Indica sent us up ahead anyways because she wanted to be alone with Marshal.”

Sierra’s face blanked for just a few seconds, but it was a long enough period for the look of annoyance to start to creep back up on Tully’s face. “I… yeah…” Sierra softly babbled. Lazily, she started to look skywards, before just settling herself against a tree and leaning against it. Slowly, she slid down it to the ground, the blanket-of-a-cloak that she wore sliding up and going over as her head as she did so while Tully took to tending to more practical things. It took her just a moment to get it back alongside her, and as she fished through one of the many pockets in her grey-green cargo pants, she called out, “Hey, Tully?”

A bright red crystal of Dust held in between her teeth, Tully just had to pause and look at Sierra for a moment before she finally decided to take the Dust out of her mouth. “Yes, dear?” she flatly asked as she gentled tossed said crystal into a bit of the clearing in the woods around them. As Tully heard Sierra begin her response, her maroon gaze slowly drifted to the trees around them, even daring to look back at the setting sun behind them while Sierra finally spoke.

“Are you… angry with me?”

“Am I ever angry with you?” Tully responded without even turning back. For a moment longer, her gaze lingered away from Sierra before it finally turned back in, and she added, “Don’t actually answer that. No, Sierra. I’m not actually angry with you. I’m just always frustrated. You know that.”

“Well, yeah, but –” Sierra tried to respond, before Tully cut her off.

“Sierra, no. I’m not. Now, could you hand me one of your knives?”

Blinking slowly as she stared into the eyes of her teammate, Sierra slowly nodded before she asked, “Which one?”

“One of the ones with rock Dust.” Nodding, Sierra reached into her dark green cloak and slid out a knife from behind her and tossed it over to Tully. Catching it, with a surge of auburn aura, Tully traced out a line on the ground around the fire Dust crystal, and behind the blade trailed an outcropping of rocks. Once her little circle was complete, Tully tossed the knife back to Sierra. “Thanks,” Tully said, “now, do you have any plant Dust still?”

Sierra shook her head no.

“Alright then. I guess we’ll be waiting for –” Tully began, before getting interrupted by the sound of a twig cracking. Though only a yawn came from Sierra in response, Tully’s eyes darted to it, but she failed to spot anything. “Sierra.”

“Yes Tully?”

“We might have company—”

“It’s just us!” Indica shouted. Quickly pushing her way through the underbrush, she made her way closer to Tully and Sierra, a bundle of twigs and sticks in her hands. “We struggled finding you guys; you two… kinda veered off course a lot.”

“Well, you left the airhead and the bitch without either of the two people on this team with any actual survival skills,” Tully shot back, rolling her eyes. “The only thing we had to go off of were the distant cracks of that genki girl stereotype’s weapon firing, and you know how hard she is to follow.”

“I… well… yeah, I mean, I guess,” Indica muttered back as Marshal finally caught up to the rest of the team. As she started to arrange the twigs in a square around the red Dust crystal, she added, “I know you don’t like Vi, but she’s not the only one we’re helping out here. Besides, weren’t _you_ the one who wanted to try to avoid the relocation programs that were going on after Beacon fell?”

“Because I didn’t want to risk having to go back to Atlas!” Tully snapped. Her mouth was already open to continue her tirade when Marshal interjected.

“And that’s why we’re working with Team Void, Tully, as well as Team Alice, remember? None of us wanted to lose each other as a whole, and especially not risk our teams if the rumours of Vacuo’s headmaster breaking teams upheld any truth. I know Vi can be a bit… much sometimes, Tully, as well as most of Void, but Alice was right when she pointed out that neither of our teams could likely make this trek alone. Once we get to Mistral, we’ll be dealin’ with ‘em even less, yeah? Just a bit longer.”

It was apparent to all on the team that Tully had zoned out to whatever he was saying halfway through, but the anger in her maroon eyes was equally gone. With a small sigh, Marshal added, “It was your turn to pick dinner today, Tully. Any preference?”

“Not beans.”

“Alright. Indica, can you get started on some rice? I think I’m going to take a nap,” Marshal asked in a weak voice.

“On it,” she replied, eyeing him with a small amount of both concern and suspicion. “Would you like me to save you any for when you’re on watch?”

“Nah. I’m not hungry,” Marshal lied, even if everyone around the campfire besides Sierra could easily tell he was lying. “Just wake me if anyone from Void or Alice shows up or when it’s my time to go on watch.”

“…alright.”


	2. Void of Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Team VOID, but properly this time.

“You need to slow down.”

The words echoed through Vi’s mind as she remained perched on the base of the tree branch she stopped on; her gaze fixed down the scope of her rifle that she braced across her chest. Her breathing was slowing down from the exhilaration she’d just put herself through, and her arms were shaking just as much. She’d dismissed Orri after they had told her that, but the words still were stuck in Vi’s mind even as she tried to just get them out. Carefully, she pressed herself against the trunk of the tree and began to sit down, closing her eyes as she did so. A sigh escaped her lips as she felt the endless fatigue she’d been sunk in since the fall of Beacon sink back in once more. With a weak chuckle, she muttered to the sinking sun, “I really can’t escape this, can I?”

Taking a deep breath in, she felt herself begin to drift off into a nap. The area seemed clear enough, and the marks she left hopefully gave Indie and Dahlia enough of a trail to follow.

Hopefully.

* * *

“I’m not sure _what_ you told her this morning, Orri, but it seems like you’ve just lit a flame under Vi’s butt to go even faster, somehow,” Dahlia remarked as she continued along, gazing up at the trees for both her team leader and the trails that said team leader would have left. Spent casings, hook marks in trees, the occasional impact in the ground. That sort of thing. “I’d be surprised if she even has any ammo left on her at this rate.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, she’s going _faster?!_ ” came a groan from besides her, followed by a crack and then a thud as Indie tripped over a root and slammed into the ground that made Dahlia stop in her tracks. Another, weaker groan soon followed from the overly-skinny girl who seemed to be making no efforts to get herself back up, the only distinction of her still being alive being the slight movements of the grey cat eats that peaked out of the mop of bleached – and now muddy – hair atop Indie’s head. The large instrument case on her back threatened to fly off of her shoulders from the force, but the tattered canvas string managed to – somehow – keep it attached to her.

The loud footsteps and clinking of armor behind them stopped as Orri bent over to pick Indie up and throw them over their left shoulder, not a moment of hesitation in the large person’s movements. For once, Indie didn’t struggle against the action and let herself be picked up, fatigue taking over her own desire for independence. “I had only told her that she needed to slow down,” Orri simply said as they started to walk again, leaving Dahlia to follow behind.

“Did you… say why?” came Indie’s voice, muffled slightly by the fact that she was speaking right into plate mail.

“…No, I didn’t. I… should have, shouldn’t I.”

With a sigh, Dahlia shook her head and said, “Yes, Orri. She’s… still struggling a lot.”

“I… know that. It is just… we’ve set a hard path to follow for teams Alice and Mist, and I do not wish for them to be left behind. At this rate, not only will we have depleted all of our ammunition, but we’ll have lost track of those teams as well. It would be… ironic? Ironic. For us to be needing their rescue instead of it being the other way around,” Orri softly rambled, the beginnings of a frown crossing their stoic, tanned face.

“You worry too much, big fella,” Indie said with a small laugh, twisting slightly in Orri’s arms so that she’d be sitting upright on their shoulder. “You, yourself, are, what, seven feet of kickass? I’ve seen Dahlia level half a forest before –”

“Hey!” Dahlia tried to interject, but it wasn’t enough to cut Indie off.

“And I, myself, was the lead singer for the roughest and toughest punk band ever to grace Remnant’s face!”

“No one knows who your band is, Indie,” Dahlia interjected again. Indie still didn’t care.

“And we all know Vi can shoot the head off of a beowolf that’s a thousand yards away if she’s not trying to fistfight a beringel. She’s fine, Orri. We’re fine too. Now, do ya still have that speaker I gave you?”

“It should be in my pack,” Orri replied flatly.

“Wonderful! Lemmie grab that,” Indie said, shuffling unsteadily and twisting around to be able to rummage through Orri’s backpack.

“Oh no. Not another one of your plans,” Dahlia flatly snarked.

“Another one of my plans! And they’re always _wonderful_ , I’ll have you know,” Indie replied.

“Shouldn’t we be setting up our camp for the night?” Orri asked. “The sun is setting.”

“And force Vi to find us? Are you crazy?” Indie shot back instantly. “What if she accidentally wanders back into the camp that Team Alice set up – or, worse, Team Mist? Besides, I can guide us.”

“I’m pretty sure that Alice would be worse than Mist – Tully’s a bitch, but she doesn’t bite. Plus, I’m sure she’d love to spend time with Marshal,” Dahlia replied with a roll of her eyes and a small laugh. “With Alice, she’d be one step away from pissing them all off and getting punched. Or worse.”

“…Alice as in the team leader or the entire team?” Orri asked softly.

“The entire team is what I meant, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Alice herself has a reason to punch—”

“FOUND IT!” Indie cried as she shot upright, clutching a speaker to her chest as a wide smile was erupting all over her face. With her right arm still clutching the speaker, she fished around in her pockets to pull out her Scroll, flicking it open with an almost maniacal grin. With a click, the speaker started to hum; as Indie took a deep breath in, a slight bit of feedback transmitted from her Scroll and through the speaker. When she spoke next, her voice was booming through the forest. **“EY VI! WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR FAST ASS? WE CAN’T REALLY TRACK YOU AT NIGHT Y’KNOW!”**

Though Orri appeared completely unphased by Indie’s antics, Dahlia had covered her ears, only uncovering them when she saw that Indie was putting her Scroll away and hopping off of Orri’s back. “Oh, I’m sure _that_ was a smart idea,” she snarked through the ringing. “Are we really experimenting with how good Grimm are at hearing? Or bandits?”

“A smart idea? Nah, I leave that to the nerds on the other teams. No, this was a _great_ idea, because it’ll be more fun in the long run. Bet.”

* * *

Had she a bit less grace – and that was already something Vi Nebula Brandt was already lacking on – it was highly likely that the loud voice echoing through the forest would have startled Vi right out of the tree that she’d accidentally began to fall asleep in. To its credit, at least, while it certainly had scared Vi, it drove her into immediate action the second she processed the voice that she’d heard. The antimateriel rifle that she’d been cradling in her sleep almost seemed to disappear for a split second as it split apart to form bracers around her arms; the magnets that held it together served just as well to disassemble it. As she tried to figure out the direction of the sound, she launched herself from the tree in the direction that, at the very least, she knew it _wasn’t_. Even then, though, a frown had formed on her face; after all, it was still _extremely_ likely that she was heading off in the wrong direction – the sound was close enough that it seemed to envelope her, and so that made tracking –

As Vi thudded into the ground and began to jog, she managed to do so right into Orri Pyrite Sparr’s chest, stumbling her and knocking her back onto her rear end.

“I told you I didn’t see any more marks in the trees,” Dahlia flatly remarked, rolling her eyes.

“Oh. Hey, ah, guys. I, er, didn’t mean to get so far,” Vi nervously chirped as she looked up at her team, bringing an awkward hand to the back of her neck and shooting a similarly-awkward smile. As she opened her eyes again, she saw Indie’s hand right in her face, and with weak, off-beat laugh, Vi took it and lifted herself to her feet once more. Immediately once the girl was upright, Indie brought her into a tight hug, which drew a surprised squeak from Vi.

“It’s just us, Vi. No need to be a dork, yeah?” Indie softly muttered as she held the shorter, pink-haired girl tight for a good few seconds. Letting Vi go – but keeping her hands firmly planted on Vi’s shoulders – Indie added in a far more teasing tone, “I know Dahlia can be scary sometimes, but c’mon, yeah? After all, wouldn’t want to risk running into Mist instead and having to deal with Tully.”

An indignant noise came from Dahlia, but she didn’t say a word. With a small chuckle, Vi shook her head. “Pft, Tully’s all bark. It’s Alice I’m worried about,” she said, mirroring Indie’s teasing confidence bright on her face. “Do we want to start our fire here?”

“Unless you want _me_ to lead the way, that was our plan. Well, actually, it was to keep moving until we found you, using me to guide the way. Which was a bad plan, too, really,” Indie confirmed.

“Are we _really_ going to set up camp in the place where we broadcast our location for the next mile?” Dahlia interjected.

“Do you _really_ want _me_ to lead the way? Last I checked, I’m the only one with good night vision here, unless we want to see if we can turn Orri’s armor into a spotlight,” Indie pointed out.

The silence in return from Dahlia was all the confirmation that she’d really not prefer that. For a few seconds, silence continued to linger, growing more and more awkward by the moment, until Orri’s thudded to the ground with a crash as the sat down right where they were, shuffling with the pack on their back to get access to it. With the vaguest of soft smiles on her face, Vi joined them, looking between Dahlia and Indie. “Who’s on wood duty today? I know I’m cooking.”

“Indie is,” Dahlia said without a second of hesitation as she joined Vi and Orri on the ground, a smile on her face. “After all, _I_ certainly couldn’t find good wood in this light.”

“Ah, stuff it,” Indie said, not hesitating for a second to flip off her team partner as she turned around and began to walk. “Right, back in five.”

“We’ll miss you!” Vi teased with a small snicker, before taking in a sharp breath. “Oh! Do you still have the guitar?”

“No, I burnt it last night for the fire, remember?” Indie said, stopping in her tracks. “Nah, y’know I still do. Want to try to play something while I’m gone?”

“If that’s alright,” Vi confirmed.

With a chuckle and a small shake of her head back and forth, Indie unslung the guitar and tossed it towards Vi. “Serenade Dahlia for me while I’m gone.” As soon as the words left Indie’s mouth, however, she gave a small flinch, all too aware of what she’d just said, and she was quick to resume walking off before any of the other three said a word.

“Please, you know Vi’s not into me enough to be able to do it anywhere near good enough,” Dahlia snarked before Vi could even begin to process that exchange. Then, looking Vi in the eyes, she asked, “Would it be alright with you if I took a moment to just… relax? It’s been a long day, and… we were all kind of worried about you with how quick you darted off this morning.” There was a rare moment of sincerity in Dahlia’s voice as her yellow eyes bore down on Vi, which Vi was quick to avoid making eye contact with.

“…Sorry about that,” Vi muttered.

“It is okay, Vi,” Orri replied as Dahlia had opened her mouth to reply (she shut it indignantly a moment later). “We’re well aware that it has been rough for you since… well, since…”

“You can say it!” Vi blurted out, darting upright. Her breathing hitched for a moment, and she froze as she felt her emotions swell in her chest, unable to distinguish just which one was most prominent in her. Wincing at herself, she just shook her head and sat back down. “You can… just say it. Since Clara died.”

“Since Clara died,” Orri echoed back, voice hollow.


	3. All of Alice

“Alice.”

Crimson registered the voice in her ears, but she was far more focused on the disassembled weapon in front of her. All she had to do now was –

“Alice.”

All she had to do now was slide the bolt of her rifle back in, even as her teammate’s voice disturbed her focus again. Her semblance made maintenance like this far more regularly needed; the leftover traces of the Fire Dust she was –

“Alice!”

Finally, Crimson diverted her eyes from her weapon and looked out the hanging flap of her tent to try and bear witness to whatever was driving her teammate to repetitively call out Alice’s name; she didn’t dare to poke her head out of the tent just yet though.

“What, Luna?” came Alice’s cold voice back, bearing none of the urgency that Luna had finally adopted. Crimson couldn’t see neither Alice nor Luna, but she could see Elly passed out sitting upright (as usual, Crimson mentally noted) on a log besides the campfire that they’d set up as the sun had begun to set.

“You’re up.”

“Oh.”

The two women came into sight as they walked past each other, Luna sitting down besides Elly at the campfire while Alice, likely, too position at the “front” of the camp they had set up. Unlike Void and Mist, Crimson assumed, they’d been taking far more careful stock in the paths they were taking and the camps they were setting up. Easy chokepoints, easy escape routes, easy angles to watch.

Finally, Crimson slid the bolt of her rifle back in, racking it once for good measure. Clean as could be after a day of work; if she had her tools, she’d much prefer to fully disassemble the damned thing. Right now, that simply wasn’t a possibility. With her gaze lingering outside of her own tent, Crimson folded her rifle into its overly-compact carrying form, tucking it between her black tank top and the heavy red flannel coat she wore overtop as she poked her head out of the tent. Luna, bow by her side, didn’t seem to notice – or care – about her movements, and of course, Elly was still sound asleep. Slowly, she crept towards where Alice must’ve been – her team leader was smart, but simplistic in choices like this – and sat down beside her without a word. Memento Mori was resting as a small buckler in Alice’s lap, atop her pleated skirt, and Crimson could obviously watch Alice’s hand draw towards it as she recognized Crimson’s presence.

“Not in a good mood?” Crimson asked with a small snort, not looking towards her team leader. The shadows of the forest were more likely to be interesting than whatever cold stare Alice was wearing.

“No,” Alice flatly replied.

“Cold?” Crimson more gently asked.

“As usual,” Alice confirmed.

Without a word, Crimson shifted slightly, taking off her heavy flannel and gently draping it over her team leader’s shoulders. While Alice’s signature white trench coat usually seemed warm enough to Crimson, she knew the biting cold that Alice’s semblance caused her to leak made it a bit much sometimes. From her own left shoulder, the Fire Dust in the tattoo Crimson had tracing down her upper arm started to pulsate with her own heartbeat, adding a little bit more warmth to the area around them. There were no thanks between them, just the simple acknowledgement between the two enough.

“Luna’s stressed,” Alice finally admitted.

“Just now figuring that out?” Crimson snarked, shaking her head.

“No,” Alice replied, a slight softness in the exasperation such as simple word carried for Alice buried within the usual flatness of her tone.

Crimson nodded, standing up, but she caught Alice’s shifting gaze out of the corner of her eye, followed by Alice shaking her head. With another nod, Crimson sat back down besides Alice. “Not something to brute force,” Alice stated, her tone growing weak.

“Not something to ignore either, though,” Crimson pointed out, her tattoo flaring with a bit more strength for a second. In response, Alice just sighed.

“I know.”

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“Fine,” Alice finally conceded. With a long breath, she added, “Just… remember it’s not her fault.”

“I know, I know,” Crimson said with a roll of her eyes as remained sat besides her team leader. “Just remember yourself that I’m here to fix things that need fixing, and break things that need breaking.”

That got a solitary chuckle from Alice, who flatly added, “And I point you at those things. I know.”

“The ‘frigid bitch’ cracks!” Crimson teased with a light elbow, and the smile that vaguely formed on her team leader’s face disappeared in a flash as she rolled her eyes.

“Really.”

“Really,” Crimson teasingly confirmed. It earned her a sigh from her team leader once more. Standing up, she stretched her back and began to walk, before she hesitated in her step. Turning over her shoulder, Crimson added, “We’ll get through this.”

Alice’s voice was borderline inaudible when she murmured one last, “I know.”

* * *

They were _falling_ , Elysium realized, as they shot awake with a loud gasp, right before their back thudded into the ground. Did they fall asleep sitting upright once more? As they glanced around, they noticed Luna sitting on the other log, tilting her head and looking down at them. The quiet “you good” was easily understood, and Elysium just nodded, prompting Luna to nod back and look away. Gently, they labored themself upright, and then back over the log, sitting on the ever-so-slightly damp ground with their legs outstretched towards the fire.

“Any chance we can get you to _not_ sleep like that?” Luna, shifting to sit beside them on the ground, asked teasingly. Everyone, even Elly, could recognize that she was trying to disguise her concerns – and her frustrations – in her voice behind her humorous demeaner.

Elly shook their head no and could immediately hear Luna’s sigh. “Fair enough,” she murmured with her trademark vague suggestion of a happy chuckle in a way that could only ended up sounding, somehow, more defeated. For a second, they both just sat there, staring at the fire, before Luna offered, “Would you like a hug?”

Elly felt themself shiver; though the white coat they wore may look warm, it was nothing but a fashionable piece of techwear that they’d stolen long before and had long since worn out any suggestion of a lining that the coat had. They nodded, and they felt arms wrap around them as they sank against Luna, though they had to shift slightly to get their tail comfortable. For as warm as it was, Elly knew that Luna’s goals were likely primarily self-motivated, trying to get some sort of comfort out of their uncomfortable situation. “We’ll be fine,” they weakly muttered as their eyes fell closed once more.

“You sound like Crimson,” Luna replied with another weak chuckle.

“She cares about us, even if she is an idiot.”

The chuckle that Elly felt Luna let out was a bit more comfortable now. “I seem to recall that the two of you were just as smart, Elly,” Luna tried to chide, even if her laughter made it impossible to believe or take anywhere even remotely seriously.

“I’m almost offended,” Elly weakly muttered, feeling themself slowly begin to lose consciousness once more. “I study so hard, and this is how I get treated?”

“She studies too, just different things. Cover each other’s weaknesses, you know?”

“Now _you_ sound like her,” Elly teased back through a monotone voice.

“Her hotheaded care rubs off on us all.”

Elly’s last few moments awake were spent by them chuckling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Been a while! after this I'll be working on a short interlude, and then I think some character backstory stuff. I had lost motivation to work on this story in specific for a bit, but finally felt the urge to keep going, mostly because I miss writing all of my rwby gals.


	4. Vi's Valentine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude to the past for Valentine's day, if just in the nick of time.

The rumble of Vi’s motorcycle cut off as she turned the key to the ignition, her left foot kicking down the kickstand as she began to step to the side of the machine. Downtown Vale always looked prettiest at night, in her opinion, as the city hummed with neon lights. It was a different view than what she’d seen elsewhere on Remnant, one that felt more limitless and open; in Mistral she could always feel the segregation between the upper and lower classes, which was something that Mantle and Atlas only made more evident, and Vacuo’s crown city she was always held too close to her father or her uncles to really be able to ever really see.

But Vale, now, had quickly become her home turf, and it was a comfortable one. Though she was still infatuated with her role at Beacon as a Huntress-to-be, every time she got to leave and run about the city, she fell in love with Vale more and more. There was a light snowfall that she felt melt in her pink-and-purple-and-blonde hair as she took off her helmet, which she stared up at for a bit, a smile resting on her soft face. It was a good day, Vi admitted to herself, and as much as she loved her team, it was good that Indie had her own performance to attend and Dahlia wanted nothing more than to just sit around the dorm and read. Orri was gone before Vi even woke up this morning, so she could only assume that they were off training. They often teased Orri about their love for their work, and Orri always teased back – as best as they could, at least – how at least they’d always be able to keep the rest of them safe. Just remembering their dynamic broadened the smile on Vi’s face, until a vibration and a ding from the Scroll in her coat pocket forced her to come back to the present. Sliding her Scroll out, she finally got off of her bike, leaving the helmet over her right handlebar as she checked the device and began to walk.

It was Izzy, reminding her that she better show up. It drew a chuckle out of Vi, because she wouldn’t miss this night for the world. Returning her Scroll to her jacket’s left pocket, she produced a lanyard from the right one, which she wrapped around her right arm and wrist; for some reason, she just absolutely hated the sensation of feeling it against her neck. To the bouncer of the club – the line, it seems, had already faded and shuffled inside – she presented it, and he just nodded and didn’t interfere with her attempts to walk in. She could already hear the music starting to play from here, and winced that she was just a _moment_ late, but there was only so much speed she could milk out of her bike. She’s only human, after all, and she hadn’t been helped by waking up at 3pm and taking a bit longer in the shower than she intended.

Truth be told, she wasn’t sure what to expect when she walked in; Izzy performed at so many different venues that it made it hard for Vi to tell what she was getting herself into each time that she showed up to once of her performances. Today, surprisingly, was a relatively quant place: there were tables set up, all surrounding an empty stage (except for a stool and a microphone) with enough space between the tables and the stage to account for a small dance floor; the lights were dim, likely to assist in the atmosphere that the candles on each table were preparing for, and Vi could practically feel the overly romantic vibes that the room was emanating. It was almost suffocatingly cheesy, and as Vi sat down at an empty table near the rear of the room, she couldn’t help but to roll her eyes, even if there was a massive smile plastered all over her face.

Somehow, it managed to grow wider as she saw that Izzy was the first one out on stage, her acoustic guitar in hand. Her white hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her yellow eyes were roaring with a brightness that made Vi remember all of the reasons that she’d fallen in love with her once more. She had to peel her eyes away, though, as she became cognizant of both the menu on the table and the growl of her stomach. Besides, she knew Izzy always opened with the same song: it was a song she’d written shortly after the two of them had met, equal parts a love song about a car as it was a love song about a girl set to a frantic beat that almost seemed more fit for an electric guitar than Izzy’s own acoustic – but, somehow, the girl made it work. It always melted Vi’s heart whenever she heard it, and she found herself humming along as she paged through the menu. It was standard bar food, Vi quickly realized, so she was just as able to shut the thing and wait for someone to notice her.

Until she noticed the pen and slips in the center of the table and realized that this bar was going to ask for her to, if she had to guess, write it down and hand it in somewhere; Vi couldn’t help but to sigh as she made this realization and shake her head slightly. Via showing up too late, she’d likely just screwed herself out of dinner for at least a little while longer – she had no plans on getting up while her girlfriend was playing. The sound of applause through the audience drew her attention back to the stage; the song was already over. It was always one that Vi felt was too short.

Izzy’s next song was a bit softer in comparison to her opener, just as much about love, but with a lot more focused on colors. It was cheesy, for sure. The last song, however, wasn’t one that Vi expected: it was one about heartbreak. She’d heard Izzy play it before, but the last time she’d heard her play it had been before the first time they had even thought about hooking up. It was always a lonely song, and for today of all days, it felt like a rather weird choice for Izzy to have chosen; after all, wasn’t today supposed to be a day about love?

Was it a warning? Vi couldn’t help but to raise her pierced left eyebrow, slightly worried at that implication, but the two of them were normally good enough at communication that the same fear wasn’t reflected in her magenta eyes. Just as quickly as it began, however, and it seemed like the song had ended, even with the far slower pace of this song compared to Izzy’s opener. Then, she was shuffled off-stage, and another musician came out. Now, VI could get up and not feel bad in the slightest. Quickly, she grabbed a pen and one of the slips and scribbled down the simplest order she could: just an order of fries. The thought of anything heavier was, somehow, upsetting her stomach. She saw another few other sane individuals like herself getting up and walking about, with part of the heading to where Vi figured the restrooms were, so she chose to follow the other ones.

Until she felt arms slip around her waist, freezing her in place. Almost immediately, Vi felt herself being brought into a tight, squeezing embrace that almost made it hard to believe, and as she started to crane her head back to see, she felt a kiss get planted atop her head, which brought a giggle from her.

“Haven’t I warned you about hugging me like this?” she teased softly, slowly twisting around to return Izzy’s hug.

“Mmm, you _have_ , but you always make it too easy,” Izzy mumbled back, her face still buried in Vi’s hair.

“I’m going to have to punch you one of these times to prove the point, aren’t I?”

“You’re too much of a pacifist for that,” Izzy pointed out teasingly, and it got another chuckle from Vi. Then, Izzy began to drag Vi back to where she was just at.

“Hold on, I need to get food!” Vi complained.

“You’ll have plenty of time to eat later,” Izzy responded, still tugging Vi along, “right now, we’re going to sit down, and we’re going to stare at each other lovingly, and then maybe we might even kiss.”

“In that order?”

“In that order specifically!”

“Hm…” Vi murmured, “I suppose that I can _try_ to work with that. I _suppose_.”

Now was Izzy’s turn to break out giggling. “Sheesh, stop being such a drama queen, it’s just some food.”

“I haven’t eaten all day!”

“Then not eating for a bit longer won’t kill you, dork.”

“Pft, if I’m a dork, what’s that say about you?”

“It says that you’re _my_ dork, Vi.”

“I can work with that.”

Izzy’s giggling returned.

Dragged behind her, Vi could see that Izzy had let down her hair, which was now trailed just past her shoulders. She was wearing her usual apricot-colored jacket, with the white fuzzy fake-fur poking out at her cuffs and below the hem. Half of the time, Vi was tempted to tease Izzy about her love of that jacket, but she realized her own leather-and-flannel jacket, in all of its pink and purple and black glory, would likely earn her just as much teasing back if she dared open her mouth.

When they sat back down, Izzy made sure to be as close to Vi as she could, even if, true to her words, she was just going to stare lovingly at Vi. She was resting her elbow on the table, and her head in her hand, just staring brightly at Vi. “Sometimes, I really wonder who adores who more here,” Vi joked, leaning back slightly in her chair as a soft smile on her face refused to grow or to fade in the slightest.

“Mmm, I think it’s me,” Izzy replied, “cause I was always looking for you in the crowd.”

“You were always looking for _me?_ ” Vi replied, astonished. “Miss talented musician wanted to see some grape-colored punk and talk to her?” Though her words carried a confident swagger, it served only to hide Vi’s amazement – sadly, the same could not be said for her eyes, which had went wide in wonder.

“Well, when someone as obvious as you in the crowd seems was at seven of my events before and then was at this one as well, I just had to see my favorite groupie.”

A blush rose on Vi’s olive cheeks, even if she tried to chuckle to cover for any bashfulness present. “P-please, that was more of a coincidence than anything, I was just in the same part of town and saw that you’d be –”

“Pft, dork,” Izzy interrupted, reaching forward and taking Vi’s hand. “Doesn’t matter, does it? We’re here now, and that’s what does.”

Vi let out a small snort, but she nodded. “Yeah. We’re here now. I _still_ can’t believe you decided to approach me first.”

“Prettiest girl in the crowd, Vi, though if I’d known you had a tongue piercing…”

“Oi, that was _solely_ because I thought they look cute!” Vi fumed as her blush coated her entire face. “Besides, it…”

“Yeah, I know,” Izzy responded, bopping Vi on the nose. “It’s not useful for ‘those things’, but I just wanted to see you like this.”

“Hmph, well, you got it,” Vi indignantly murmured, looking towards the stage. The music was beginning to change, and the lights were rising a little bit, and then Vi felt a squeeze on her hand.

“C’mon, dork. They’re about to play our song.”

“You got’m to play it?” Vi’s eyes snapped back to Izzy, wide one more with awe as the blush seemed to disappear completely; her smile was practically stretching from one of her bright magenta eyes to the other.

“Helps when your mom’s are the owner’s of the bar you’re choosing to play at~?” Izzy teased with a wink, standing up and guiding Vi upright at the same time.

“Shows what I know,” Vi mumbled, her eyes not leaving Izzy’s for even a second. Already, the chorus of the song was filling her ears, _“Oh don’t you dare look back”_.

Izzy laughed, and in time with the song, she just said, “Just keep your eyes on me, Vi,” as she tugged Vi just a little bit closer. Vi joined in on her laughing and nodded, but before they could get to dancing, she had just one thing she had to do:

She planted a kiss on Izzy’s lips, catching her off guard for once – though she quickly melted into the kiss, even if they kept it brief. “C’mon, Vi, I know you’ll be kicking yourself if we miss thing.”

“Yeah, I will,” Vi murmured back as she rested her forehead against Izzy’s for a second longer. Then, smile as bright as ever, she pulled away, and it was now her turn to tug Izzy towards the small dance floor. Other people seemed to be joining them, but Vi didn’t mind – Vi would’ve danced with them all for even just a second of more time with Izzy.


End file.
